The Marauders’ Years: Year Two
by JadeyTheKitty
Summary: The Marauders are back in the second installment of 'The Marauders' Years'. A year full of humor and mysteries await them as they try to discover Remus's most guarded secret.
1. Chapter 1: The Game

**The Marauders' Years: Year Two**

**Chapter One **

_**The Game**_

_Warning_: The following story was being planned out in 2003 -- well before the fifth, sixth, or seventh Harry Potter books were available to me. While the story has absorbed facts from these books as they have been presented, some key elements of the story will still not match up with canon, as it's too late to change some events and relationships. Please keep that in mind.

_Characters_ _Contained_: The four Marauders are this series' main focus, but a core group of OCs also appear throughout the story. Therefore, it would be wise to read the first installment of _The Marauders' Years_ to better understand where everything is coming from.

_Disclaimer_: I neither own nor make a profit off of anything from the Harry Potter universe. J.K.Rowling is the one behind the series, y'know.

_Status_: Ongoing. I have no intention of dropping _The Marauders' Years_ from my current writing projects. How frequent updates will be, I can't say. They _will_ be more frequent than in the past. However, the chapters may not be up to parr in terms of polishing. As my wonderful beta looks over the chapters and adds in her thoughts and corrections, I will re-upload chapters. In theory, nothing major will be changed, so it should be safe for me to put up the un-beta-ed chapters to cut down on the waiting period. Happy reading, all, and many thanks to those who are still sticking with me on this.

* * *

The grin that lit up the face of the black-haired boy would have struck fear into even the bravest of hearts. As it was, it struck a certain amount of terror into one of the least brave of his companions: a young boy with mousy hair, watery eyes, and a voice that squeaked when he was frightened.

The young Peter Pettigrew couldn't help but begin to stutter as his companion's eyes gleamed with manic glee. He knew what kind of trouble the other boy was capable of, and the way the dark-haired boy made a steeple with his fingers and peered over them at him made Peter distinctly uneasy.

"S-S-Sirius you c-c-c-can't be… serious?" Peter inwardly cringed at using that particular word when dealing with Sirius, but in his current state he could think of nothing else to say.

"Of _course_ I'm Sirius," the black-haired boy crowed, leaping to his feet in the small compartment and earning a glare from Remus Lupin, who was attempting to read a book. "Sirius Black. Future second year student of Hogwarts."

"Sirius, sit down. You're going to either make a fool of yourself or earn us another detention," Remus stated flatly before returning to his book.

Sirius sniffed, eyeing the book's title for a moment. _Muggles Who Notice_ by Blenheim Stalk didn't seem to be a title of any particular interest. It certainly wasn't a title that should have garnered more attention from Remus than he himself was earning.

"But, Remmy…" Sirius stared at Remus beseechingly for a moment in an attempt to earn pity, but upon receiving none, he returned his attention to Peter, pouting.

"Pete… Peter… Petey…" Sirius pleaded, his voice dropping to a whine. "Remmy won't help me. So I need _you_ to help me! It's what friends do."

"Merlin knows you need help," Remus snorted. Sirius only pouted more, whining that Remus was, as he put it, being mean to him.

"Why can't James help you?" Peter asked, trying to look for a way around being asked to accompany Sirius on his latest escapade.

Sirius coughed, looking at anything but Peter or Remus. "Well, er… Jamesie is in the Prefect's compartment. With the… er… Prefects…" he trailed off, obviously fishing for more to say. After a moment he seemed to come across a suitable end to his sentence and put on a triumphant grin. "Because _he_ is a Prefect! Jamesie is one of those proud few. From now on, he'll bravely make sure the halls of our beloved Hogwarts are safe to roam in the dead of night. Dumbledore will be announcing it tonight, I expect."

Peter's expression turned from one of slight panic to scepticism. "We're only in second year. Even _I _know second years aren't Prefects."

Remus had now taken a greater interest in the conversation and was giving Sirius a measured look. "What are you two up to this time?" he questioned, suspicious.

Choosing to ignore Remus's query entirely, Sirius frowned, attempting to come up with something to tell Peter. Fortunately (or unfortunately, as the case so often was) an answer popped into his head immediately.

"James is special, and thus, they gave him a _Junior_ Prefect badge. You see, the purple hamsters threatened to sue if Hogwarts didn't give Jamesie, their client, a badge of power. The pink squirrels, overlords of the green acorns, also threatened the school. They said if James wasn't made into some form of Prefect, they would stop all imports of magic chicken noodle soup."

This pronouncement was met with blank expressions.

Remus was about to mention the lack of sanity Sirius was exibiting, but the sound of something crashing violently into the walls outside, coupled with yells of, "Good Merlin, it _ate_ him!" managed to distract him along with anyone else who heard it.

"It's started!" Sirius cried, throwing open the compartment door and pelting down the hallway.

"Should we… go see what happened?" Peter questioned, looking at the open doorway as if it might lead into untold horrors, which wasn't altogether unlikely.

"I suppose…" Remus answered with a sigh. He didn't see that they had much of a choice in the matter – someone had to keep James and Sirius from getting themselves expelled.

Very slowly, the two crept out into the hallway to find out what was going on to cause such a disruption.

Frank Longbottom, who spared them a glance and a nod before travelling with them towards the front on the train, muttered a quick "All right there, you two?"

It didn't take long to discover where the commotion was taking place. James and Sirius stood side by side with an enraged Professor McGonagall towering over them like a tiger going in for the kill. She jabbed a finger angrily first at them, and then at something off to the side.

Curious, Remus followed the imaginary line from her finger, to the object that was the reason for the teacher's fury.

There, filling up half the hallway in all of its botanical glory, was Bob, Sirius's pet Flitterbloom. At the moment it was being still, but it had obviously been quite active recently. Severus Snape stood several feet away from the plant, staring at it in a mixture of shock and mute horror as he numbly removed a few remaining vines from his robes.

The three second-year boys exchanged a look that spoke volumes. If they turned around now, pretending this never happened, they might manage to escape joining James and Sirius in their punishment. Sadly, McGonagall spotted them in their frantic race for freedom, immediately assuming they were part of the guilty party as they had feared she would. And who would blame her? How often did the innocent run as if a dragon was breathing down their necks?

ooo

"Detention. Detention _again_!" Frank ranted, lashing out at anything that dared to even look anything but miserable.

"It's like a tradition," Sirius grinned happily. "It's just like last year. Isn't it gr—"

Sirius blinked in surprise as Frank rounded on him, pointing an accusing finger inches from his nose. "_You_. Don't you _dare_ say that this is 'great' or 'fun' or whatever else your bloody mind can come up with. I will _not_ spend my days trapped in detention with you. This is unacceptable!"

Frank sank to the floor then, gibbering mindlessly, his eyes glinting forebodingly at anyone who dared approach him.

"If it makes you feel better, just remember how lucky we are that Professor Hikage decided to go to the start of term feast instead of supervising us," Remus commented.

Frank ceased in his gibbering to slowly turn and stare at Remus, his eyes blank and lifeless.

Remus recoiled slightly from the haunted gaze and looked to James for some sort of advice. "What's wrong with him? Detention is bad, but…" To Remus's confusion, James burst into uncontrollable snickering.

"Alice," James gasped, trying to control his laughter, but failing miserably at his attempt.

Remus lifted one eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Would you mind sharing what's gotten into you?"

Frank began gibbering again, though this time he had a look of mortal terror etched across his features.

Peter grinned and raised his hand in the air. "Oh, I know! James owled me when he saw them in Diagon Alley, he said that—"

_Thwump!_

"That…was an overreaction," Sirius stated blankly, peeking over the desk to see where Peter was sprawled after being tackled by Frank.

Remus slowly shook his head. If Frank had lost it, then he was truly alone. Other than Peter and himself, Frank was the only truly sane second year Gryffindor. He truly didn't mind James and Sirius's mental plotting, but it was occasionally nice to have a nice, normal conversation.

"Frank…likes…a girl." James managed, between fits of laughter, to point at Frank's mortified face and snicker even more. "He's upset because he didn't get to go to the feast and spend time with her."

"It's not that funny," Frank shot back testily, flushing crimson.

"And he even admits to it; this is one for the record books!" Sirius grinned gleefully and twirled a sugar quill between his fingers.

Frank proceeded to drag a desk to one corner of the Potions' classroom and sulk.

While the others talked, Peter amused himself with wandering about the classroom, prodding and poking everything that looked even slightly interesting. He returned to his desk rather quickly when he discovered a dead rat floating in a jar of purple liquid. It was always unnerving to discover things like that in one of the dungeon offices. He had a _pet_ rat, for Merlin's sake!

The detention passed in silence for a while, only broken when Peter's stomach gave a rather pointed growl.

"I'm hungry…" he complained, rather unnecessarily.

"Yes, Peter, we all are. Unless we've been forgotten, someone will bring us a sandwich," Remus said before sighing unhappily and eyeing the empty space on the desk he sat at. What he wouldn't give for a book to read…

As if his speaking about it had made it so, the door swung open and in entered a witch with spiky white hair, carrying a plate of sandwiches. She gave them all a stern look before offering a smile. "Eat up, boys. Someone will be along to fetch you the moment the feast is over, then you may go to your common room."

The Marauders plus one exchanged glances and raised eyebrows as she left, presumably returning to the Great Hall and all of the delicious food that awaited there.

"She didn't look old enough for white hair," Sirius commented thoughtfully.

"She wasn't here last year, was she?" Peter questioned, finally getting up from the floor where he had been sitting in case Frank chose to knock him over again.

James glanced at Remus. "Do you think it's a new teacher?"

"It's possible…"

"That was Madame Hooch, you idiots," Frank grumbled. "She's going to teach this year and referee the Quidditch matches."

The boys contemplated that in silence for a moment before Sirius began tossing the sandwiches out, causing all conversations to cease in lieu of their hunger.

Eventually, a Prefect came to shepherd the boys back to the common room, but before they made it back the Second Year Gryffindor girls had a chance to have a conversation without fear of anyone overhearing them.

ooo

The girls were currently discussing their dilemma, which was as follows: should they attempt to get back at the boys this year, or should they let it drop and not suffer in an endless cycle of pranks and counter-pranks? They still wanted revenge for the pumpkin juice incident, but they didn't know if they were prepared for the consequences.

"I think…" Lizz began slowly, picking up on the conversation that had, until this moment, been waged in silent glances and much angry furrowing of eyebrows. "…that we should strike back… at least once. After that we let it drop. We have reputations to begin building; respectable ones."

Allysia frowned, absently stroking Serecise, her silver furred cat. "What if they find out what we do?"

Alice nodded in agreement. It wouldn't be a fun year at all if they brought the Marauders' wrath down upon them. If any of those boys put their minds to getting past the stairs to the girls' dorm…

The horrors that could be wrought on their room were horrible to even imagine. Spiders under the bed, fake snakes stuffed into the pillowcases (_real_ snakes stuffed into the pillowcases), showers that ran warm water one moment and treacle pudding the next…

She wasn't sure she could handle it.

The decision fell on Lily; none of the others could bring themselves to choose. The Marauders' transgressions of the previous year seemed too far away now with the common room fire blazing cheerfully and the new first years chattering excitedly in a corner about how their first classes would turn out. With everything so peaceful, it didn't seem possible that things could have ever been as difficult as last year.

Ever so slowly, Lily nodded her head, expression uncertain. "Let's play it by ear. If something presents itself, we'll do it."

A loud _pop_ interrupted Lily and caused all of the girls to turn to Allysia. The brown haired girl shrugged helplessly. "It's Serecise, he started doing that over summer vacation."

Lizz raising an eyebrow at the spot the cat had been in. "He explodes?"

"It seems like he's apparating, maybe," Allysia said, frowning. "He did at home while I was listening to W.W.N. on the radio. Appeared right on the kitchen table in the next room and started helping himself to a bit of pudding. I thought he was a kneazle, but now I'm not sure…"

Lizz suddenly smiled. "You know… it seems like we might be able to use him to help us get back at the Marauders."

Lily smirked, her expression suddenly as conniving as James or Sirius's always were. "Yes, I think so, too; Serecise can help us out in our little game of revenge."

The common room fire flickered eerily over the huddled forms of the four girls, casting foreboding shadows all about on the red and gold décor of the room. By the time the boys were let into the common room, the only hint that anything was amiss was a curiously uneasy feeling that passed over the boys for just a moment.

The feeling was quickly dismissed, but the game was now afoot.


	2. Chapter 2: The Truce

**The Marauders' Years: Year Two**

**Chapter Two**

_**The Truce **_

_Warning_: The following story was being planned out in 2003 -- well before the fifth, sixth, or seventh Harry Potter books were available to me. While the story has absorbed facts from these books as they have been presented, some key elements of the story will still not match up with canon, as it's too late to change some events and relationships. Please keep that in mind.

_Characters_ _Contained_: The four Marauders are this series' main focus, but a core group of OCs also appear throughout the story. Therefore, it would be wise to read the first installment of _The Marauders' Years_ to better understand where everything is coming from.

_Disclaimer_: I neither own nor make a profit off of anything from the Harry Potter universe. J.K.Rowling is the one behind the series, y'know.

_Status_: Ongoing. I have no intention of dropping _The Marauders' Years_ from my current writing projects. How frequent updates will be, I can't say. They _will_ be more frequent than in the past. However, the chapters may not be up to parr in terms of polishing. As my wonderful beta looks over the chapters and adds in her thoughts and corrections, I will re-upload chapters. In theory, nothing major will be changed, so it should be safe for me to put up the un-beta-ed chapters to cut down on the waiting period. Happy reading, all, and many thanks to those who are still sticking with me on this.

* * *

Sirius couldn't help it – he was jumpy.

He would have felt a lot better if James, Remus, or even _Peter_ was being paranoid as well, but that wasn't the case. Sirius Black was alone in his suspicions.

Sirius contemplated the chess piece before him, but he couldn't shake the sinister feeling that crept along his spine when his back was to anyone in the room. He paused in his thoughts to order his knight to manoeuvre across the board and intercept Peter's king.

"Check," Sirius announced, not really paying attention. He was already looking over his shoulder to scan the Gryffindor common room.

"Sirius, what's wrong now?" Remus asked from his position on the couch. "You keep looking over your shoulder… What in Merlin's name for?"

Sirius frowned, ignoring Remus and returning his attention to the chessboard where a flummoxed Peter sat, attempting to find a way out of Check. "You should know why."

Remus carefully slid a bookmark between the pages of his book (the same one he was reading on the Hogwarts Express earlier that evening) and raised an eyebrow at Sirius. "Honestly, I have no idea. It's nearly eleven o'clock now. A few seventh years are studying in the corner and I believe they don't realize we exist – much less want to attack us. James is off getting food with his cloak, and unless you're keeping an eye out for him, then I really don't know what's gotten into you."

That said, Remus crossed his arms and levelled a stare at Sirius in hopes that the other boy would answer fully and reveal what was on his mind.

Peter chose that moment to cut into the conversation. "It _must_ be checkmate, Sirius." Peter glared at his tiny chess army and sulkily tried to tip his king over in defeat when it wouldn't throw down its crown of its own accord. Said chess piece attempted to take a chunk out of his finger.

Exasperated, Sirius rolled his eyes. "You've got a move that'll save you, Pete."

"Do not."

"Do _too,_" came Sirius's aggravated reply.

"Not."

"Oi, you three! Be quiet or get to bed!" growled one particularly frazzled looking seventh year. He glared dangerously at them for a moment before deciding that they were indeed going to be quiet, and returned to his studying with only a muttered, "Bloody second years – bad as first years, only they're awake longer…"

"Bloody seventh years, more like," Sirius retorted none too quietly. Luckily for Sirius, the seventh year boy ignored him.

Remus had taken to rubbing his forehead with one hand. They were going to be jinxed one day, he just knew it. And it would be just their luck that they'd have to upset Madam Pomfrey on whichever day that might end up being.

With a sigh, Remus pursued the earlier conversation. "Well, Sirius?"

Sirius again rolled his eyes. "Are you two that dense? Do either of you even remember what we _did_ last year?"

"I try not to think about it," Remus replied calmly.

"That thing gave me monsters for a week." Peter nodded shakily before pausing with a pained expression. "…nightmares, I mean."

Sirius gave Peter an odd look, but let that particularly strange sentence slide. "Not that monster thing, Pete. I meant—"

"Did I miss something?" James questioned as he set the spoils of his adventure on the table beside the chessboard and sat down in an armchair with a flourish.

"Sirius was just telling us why he's jumping at his own shadow," Remus answered, fixing Sirius with a steady look to inform the dark-haired boy that he fully expected him to continue.

Sirius shrugged off all of the curious looks and tapped one foot on the floor. "You three should be doing the same thing! Not only will the girls be out for our blood for the pranks on them, but—" Here he lowered his voiced conspiratorially. "—did you forget that we lost the _house cup_ for _Gryffindor_? The classmates we have to live with _all year_ won't have forgotten. All of Gryffindor is going to be baying for our blood…"

"And this has _just _occurred to you?" Remus questioned incredulously, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Pardon me for having so much _fun_ all summer and not ever really thinking about what would happen when I got back here," Sirius grumbled.

"Ouch!"

The three boys turned at the pained cry to see Peter furiously beating his queen against the table. The chess piece had latched onto his finger. Apparently the queen hadn't taken kindly Peter's attempt to forcibly remove the king's crown. Subjecting his chess pieces to yet another humiliating defeat seemed to have been the last straw for the pieces.

"Perhaps we should go to bed?" Remus suggested quickly, shooting a glance at the glowering seventh years.

"Sounds good…to _me_," James agreed, wrenching the homicidal game piece from Peter's finger and tossing it back onto the table.

"Me, too," Sirius agreed, though he made a mental note to exact some sort of revenge on the seventh years later on.

Peter nodded glumly and the four trooped up the stairs and off to bed.

ooo

The next morning dawned bright and clear with the sounds of birds twittering joyously outside of the castle walls. A few unlucky birds encountered those students who were anything but morning types and were quickly zapped with silencing spells.

Frank, one of these types, slammed the window shut and pocketed his wand, ignoring the wary looks he received from the Marauders as he made his way groggily out of the dormitory.

"He really makes me wonder sometimes…" James commented.

The others made various sounds of agreement as they all hurried to get dressed and follow Frank down to breakfast and their first classes. Once they caught up with Frank, they all began the uneventful walk to the Great Hall, pausing only to briefly greet Nearly-Headless-Nick (Remus warned Peter not to interrogate the ghost on how exactly it was possible to be 'nearly headless' and, for once, the shorter boy wisely listened).

They continued on in relative silence until arriving at their destination.

"Lovely to see you," James greeted as they all found their seats in the Great Hall.

"Lovely," Lily repeated dryly.

Sirius grinned and took charge of the conversation. "We've come to make amends!"

This statement caused the four girls across the table (and Frank as well) to stare at Sirius in utter shock.

Lizz recovered first. "Excuse me?"

James inwardly snickered. He'd never seen Lizz look so out of sorts. She usually liked to calmly state the facts and almost nothing seemed to ruffle her deadpan demeanour… until now.

"We," James said slowly, "have come to try out a truce."

"A short truce," Sirius interjected.

"A short truce," James agreed with a nod. "Until Halloween."

Remus and Peter remained quiet, merely observing the reactions of the group of second years.

"Erm… well. That is to say…_ Why_?" Allysia questioned.

Alice shot Frank a curious look, but he simply shrugged. He was as oblivious as she.

"Trying to get off on the right foot this year," James explained brightly, extending his hand. "With a truce, we can't prank you and you don't prank us. So everyone's happy, right?"

"Why only until Halloween?" Lily asked, suspicious. She narrowed her eyes, glaring at the boys warily to inform them that she didn't believe what they were saying any more than Lizz did.

"In case not everyone is happy, of course." Sirius rolled his eyes (he now knew why everyone did this; it was quite enjoyable and made a nice emphasis of statement) at the seemingly obvious answer.

Hesitantly, Lily reached out a hand and shook James's own hand. "Well…if that really is the case, then we have a deal."

After all, what harm would a month without pranks cause? Perhaps the boys would find out that it was better to act maturely. And…if the Marauders went back on their deal, she and her friends could just continue with their own prank. Right?

James hid his smirk as he shook Lily's outstretched hand, knowing that Sirius was barely restraining himself from rubbing his hands together in glee.

Sirius was probably right about the girls planning something. This would put a halt on their plans and allow the Marauders' own plan to begin to take shape for the Halloween feast.

But all of this James kept to himself, keeping the smirk from taking over his features as he smiled at Lily. No, he wouldn't spoil it this early in the game.

ooo

Breakfast came and went with the usual morning mail and eating of breakfast, which was interrupted only once as the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher passed out class schedules. Soon the second year Gryffindor boys left the Great Hall and found themselves in Potions class, far from the melodic chirp of birds and the warm rays of sunshine.

The décor, Remus noted distastefully, wasn't any different than last year, and it almost seemed as if the dungeons had grown colder. It was a wonder that the Slytherins managed to stave off catching a cold every other day of the week. Their common room was rumoured to be down here, after all.

Peter leaned over, speaking quietly. "Remus? It can't be worse than last year, can it?"

"Just watch," Frank scoffed from Peter's right. "It'll be ten times worse."

Remus frowned, glancing at James and Sirius who were deep in whispered conversation. How _could_ Potions get any worse? Sirius and James had caused trouble last year, so no surprises there. And the material shouldn't be that much more difficult…

Professor Hikage made his way into the classroom, then, interrupting Remus's thoughts for a moment. He was an older man – greying hair, a beak of a nose, perpetually narrowed eyes – but he was still formidable, making snide remarks at anyone who dared know less than he did. (But may the gods be with you if you actually knew _more.)_

Remus had never had a reason to be particularly afraid of the man; scathing remarks usually only encouraged him to step up his studying, but that had been before this lesson…

"Today, class," Hikage announced, "we will turn to chapter seven and study the various poisons one might receive from animal bites. We will study Doxies, among other creatures. It _will_ become test material."

_Chapter seven_… The professor's words echoed in Remus's head. He knew what was in that chapter; he'd looked for _it_ specifically. He knew in Defence Against the Dark Arts they'd be studying _it_ in either third or fourth year and he had also known that they would have a small lesson this year in Potions. He had looked ahead to _prevent_ this reaction.

"Werewolves will also be studied. We will take a close look at the effects of these bites, including the known side-effects and symptoms."

Remus couldn't help it. He froze.


	3. Chapter 3: The Lesson

**The Marauders' Years: Year Two**

**Chapter Three**

_**The Lesson**_

_Warning_: The following story was being planned out in 2003 -- well before the fifth, sixth, or seventh Harry Potter books were available to me. While the story has absorbed facts from these books as they have been presented, some key elements of the story will still not match up with canon, as it's too late to change some events and relationships. Please keep that in mind.

_Characters_ _Contained_: The four Marauders are this series' main focus, but a core group of OCs also appear throughout the story. Therefore, it would be wise to read the first installment of _The Marauders' Years_ to better understand where everything is coming from.

_Disclaimer_: I neither own nor make a profit off of anything from the Harry Potter universe. J.K.Rowling is the one behind the series, y'know.

_Status_: Ongoing. I have no intention of dropping _The Marauders' Years_ from my current writing projects. How frequent updates will be, I can't say. They _will_ be more frequent than in the past. However, the chapters may not be up to parr in terms of polishing. As my wonderful beta looks over the chapters and adds in her thoughts and corrections, I will re-upload chapters. In theory, nothing major will be changed, so it should be safe for me to put up the un-beta-ed chapters to cut down on the waiting period. Happy reading, all, and many thanks to those who are still sticking with me on this.

* * *

James was in the middle of discussing ideas for the Halloween prank with Sirius when a sudden movement caught the corner of his eye. It wasn't _actually_ a movement, but more the absence of such.

He had seen Remus sit in class, rapt with attention to the lesson, but James had never seen Remus sit stock-still like he was now, barely breathing with an expression of utter terror.

James raised a hand in front of Sirius's face to cut the boy off midway through a particularly odd idea (involving some new Muggle item called 'fly-paper' that Sirius informed him was particularly effective in sticking his younger brother to the ceiling), and motioned towards Remus.

Sirius blinked several times, disappointed that he had been unable to finish concocting a possible plan, but stopped and stared at Remus as he noticed the pale boy's predicament.

"Did somebody jinx him?" Sirius questioned in a whisper. He was really hoping for that to be the case. Otherwise, the only explanation was that Remus's brain had finally overloaded from all of that over-zealous studying.

James replied with a shrug before quickly turning around to try to help Remus. "All right, Remus?"

Frank blinked at the sudden activity and stared at Remus as well. "What's up with him?"

"Remus?" Peter tentatively poked the other boy's shoulder, jumping back and nearly upsetting the table as Remus jerked back into the movement by jumping in fright at the touch.

"What's wrong?" Sirius hissed over his shoulder as he and James returned to their charade of paying attention in class.

Professor Hikage walked deliberately across the room, barely holding his temper in check as he came to a halt before the group of boys. Really… there was no sense in their constant interruption. Even some of the _Slytherins_ behaved better than this unruly group of Gryffindors!

"You lot," he ordered with eyes smouldering, "will have detention. Until then, I want you all out of my sight! May your oh so _brilliant_ brains help you when it comes time for this test!"

That said, he promptly kicked Remus, Peter, James, Sirius, _and_ Frank out of the dungeon classroom and slammed the door behind them.

"Touchy guy," Sirius remarked mildly.

Frank gave him an icy glare before marching off with the Marauders in tow. "I have _no_ idea why in Merlin's name I hang round you lot! You're going to get me _expelled_."

"But Frankie! You know you love us!" Sirius responded with a grin. His fatal mistake.

The look Frank gave Sirius could have caused flowers to wilt and water to boil. A smarter or weaker of heart boy would have quailed under his fury. The description 'if looks could kill' would not even begin to encompass the utter loathing Frank managed to pack into this one expression.

Sadly for Sirius, he was rather brave and reckless with just a touch of the dreaded 'brave stupidity.'

"I'll _kill_ you!" Frank lunged at the black haired boy, missed, and gave chase as Sirius seemed to think better of his choice in nicknames and fled.

Remus was grateful for the noisy distraction, but noticed that James still seemed to want an explanation for how he had acted back in Potions.

"Sirius is getting away… We'd best go help him out before Frank catches him." Remus didn't allow a reply as he raced after their friends.

After a split second's thought, James dashed after Remus, leaving only Peter behind.

The small boy sighed heavily, staring down at his shoes for a moment. "Why are we always running?"

Not expecting the dungeon walls to offer much explanation, and a bit leery of being alone in Slytherin territory, Peter hurried after his companions.

ooo

After saving Sirius from Frank's stranglehold and making the dark haired boy promise to never _ever_ utter the word 'Frankie' in Frank's presence again, the Marauders continued the day, working through the usual classes.

No one mentioned the incident in Potions for the entire day and Remus had almost decided that his luck would hold. But then they had finished their final class (Double Care of Magical Creatures with the Hufflepuffs), eaten dinner, and returned to the common room. And all small prayers for ignorance were dashed.

"Okay." James fixed Remus with a serious expression as the four boys made ready to go to bed. "Are you going to tell us what happened in Potions before Frank gets here?"

Sirius rubbed his neck gingerly and nodded. "I'm going to have to sleep with one eye open…" he mumbled sorrowfully.

"Stuff it, Sirius," James commanded with a slight grin before slipping back into his original tone. "Well, Remus?"

Remus shifted uncomfortably on his bed as his three friends eyed him expectantly. He had to give them some sort of explanation, but he couldn't tell them the _truth_. They'd hate him forever! He'd lose the first friends he'd made in a long while, and then the rest of the school would find out. Where would he be left, then?

Friendless_ and_ kicked out of school, likely. No way could he tell the truth.

"I…I haven't been feeling well. I'm coming down with something…ah… or maybe I have an allergy to something in the Potions class room?"

And maybe it wasn't brilliant to change my story halfway through! Idiot. Inwardly, Remus swore. Peter alone might by his story now, but James and Sirius would see right through him. 

None of the Marauders called him on this, though, and seemed to be ready to leave well enough alone.

"Oh, okay then," Peter said. "Let's all get to bed?"

Everyone nodded in agreement, and Remus was relieved to pull the curtains on his four-poster and drift off to sleep.

The remaining three boys waited quietly until the rhythmic breathing from the fourth bed informed them that they wouldn't be listened in on.

"He's hiding something."

Peter nodded at James. "Yeah… even _I_ noticed. But… should we really pry?"

"Should we really _not _pry?" Sirius asked with one eyebrow raised.

"I'm definitely curious. We owe it to Remus to find out what's wrong," James agreed.

"If you two are sure…"

"Of course!" Sirius cut in. "Now let's really get some sleep before we wake up dear Remmy."

"You're going to get yourself killed with thinking up nicknames…" James muttered sleepily.

"Night." Peter dropped down onto his bed, lacking interest in further conversation.

After a few moments, their breathing matched Remus's, signalling that they had all dropped off to sleep on time for once. Frank entered the room not too long afterwards and was rather surprised and pleased that he'd be able to go to bed without tuning out the Marauders' chatting.

ooo

"I can't believe her…"

"S'one weird Hufflepuff."

James and Sirius exchanged glances as they, Remus, and Peter arrived in the Great Hall for breakfast. A crowd had gathered around the Hufflepuff table where a third year was explaining something loudly. With one last confused glance at one another, the Marauders threaded their way into the crowd.

The Hufflepuff girl had blond hair and freckles that stood out darkly against her flushed face. She wore a white apron that declared in bright yellow letters, 'Charm your own Cheese,' and she was holding up a thick slice of cheese.

"Now," she said. "You may think that this piece of mouldy cheese is only fit for a ghost's consumption, am I right?"

Various noises of agreement followed this question, spurring the Hufflepuff to continue. "Well that's where you're wrong! I, Greta Catchlove, author of my future best selling book, _Charm your own Cheese_, can show you how to prepare it to be fit to eat!" Greta announced gleefully, pausing to pull out her wand and wave it over the cheese.

For a moment, nothing happened. Greta smiled brightly and tried again.

Once again the cheese remained unchanged. Someone in the Great Hall coughed loudly into the silence.

The crowd slowly began to thin out and the girl frowned, shaking her fist. "You just wait until I'm famous and you're all off working at second rate ice cream parlours!"

"You're mental!" Kendra Blackburry, a second year who James recognized as the Ravenclaw's Chaser, accused. "Get off of the tables."

Greta's expression clouded over. Before anyone could react, she charmed the cheese with a levitation spell and sent it speeding off towards the various occupants of the Great Hall.

Utter chaos erupted as everyone attempted to dodge flying dairy products and retrieve the mail the owls had just delivered. By the time a professor managed to get the situation under control, most of the students had evacuated the hall and opted to get an early start on classes.

ooo

"Welcome to Herbology, chaps. Mind the Venomous Tentacula, and don't upset the Mandrake pots."

Professor Sprout directed them to a long table loaded down with yellow flowers.

Sirius raises an eyebrow at Professor Sprout before poking one of them, praying that his finger didn't get bitten off.

Honk! 

Sirius and Peter both yelped while most of the other students merely jumped in surprise.

Professor Sprout smiled and motioned at the flowers. "These," she said, "in case you haven't yet noticed, are Honking Daffodils. The poor dears didn't make it last year…. thanks to our _unexpected _blizzard."

Sirius had the decency to look sheepish, while Remus only rolled his eyes at his friend's evil accomplishments of the previous year.

"Right, let's get to work. We'll be mixing a few ingredients into the soil which will help the dears resist the cold." Professor Sprout nodded and the students all approached the plants to begin the class.

ooo

"I _hate_ Venomous Tentaculas!" James declared angrily as the four of them scaled the steps leading to the seventh floor.

Sirius smirked. "Aw, but Jamesie, that plant loves you!"

"It's evil," James continued, as if he hadn't heard Sirius's comment. "Weed killer… that's what I need… This weekend I'll sneak back in there with weed killer!"

"I'll help!" Peter declared, earning several sceptical glances. Help? Help as in cheer James on from the sidelines, perhaps…?

"Who's with me?!"

Sirius pumped a fist into the air, grinning maniacally. "I'll help you, Jamesie. Anything to alleviate boredom!"

"I'll go, too," Peter agreed. His dislike of Herbology counteracted his usual trepidation.

Remus's face fell and he shook his head, looking disappointed. "I can't… I'm going to be sick this weekend."

Sirius blinked once, then again. "Pardon?"

"You know _ahead of time_ that you'll be sick?" James asked incredulously.

Peter tilted his head to one side, just as perplexed as usual.

Remus stared at them. "N-n-no… I mean… I… just…" he trailed off his spluttered excuse before turning and hurrying up the stairs. "I've just got other plans–!"

"Weird," Peter muttered.

"First Potions, now this." Sirius rubbed the back of his neck while staring after Remus in confusion. "You know what this means?"

James shook his head. "Not really. What?"

Sirius grinned. "We've got a new _mystery_ to unravel. Behold our entertainment for the year!"

"I don't know you," Peter said with a sad shake of his head.

James sighed at the two of them. "Let's just go."

They nodded in agreement before continuing up the stairs on their way to Gryffindor Tower.


	4. Chapter 4: The Planning

**The Marauders' Years: Year Two**

**Chapter Four**

_**The Planning**_

_Warning_: The following story was being planned out in 2003 -- well before the fifth, sixth, or seventh Harry Potter books were available to me. While the story has absorbed facts from these books as they have been presented, some key elements of the story will still not match up with canon, as it's too late to change some events and relationships. Please keep that in mind.

_Characters_ _Contained_: The four Marauders are this series' main focus, but a core group of OCs also appear throughout the story. Therefore, it would be wise to read the first installment of _The Marauders' Years_ to better understand where everything is coming from.

_Disclaimer_: I neither own nor make a profit off of anything from the Harry Potter universe. J.K.Rowling is the one behind the series, y'know.

_Status_: Ongoing. I have no intention of dropping _The Marauders' Years_ from my current writing projects. How frequent updates will be, I can't say. They _will_ be more frequent than in the past. However, the chapters may not be up to parr in terms of polishing. As my wonderful beta looks over the chapters and adds in her thoughts and corrections, I will re-upload chapters. In theory, nothing major will be changed, so it should be safe for me to put up the un-beta-ed chapters to cut down on the waiting period. Happy reading, all, and many thanks to those who are still sticking with me on this.

* * *

Peter could hardly contain his nervousness as he trailed after Sirius later that week – the week_end_, as it turned out.

It was a collection of very odd circumstances that led to Peter accompanying Sirius instead of James. Miraculously, Sirius had managed to avoid detention while James had landed himself three hours of helping the Divination teacher recover her crystal balls that had been 'mysteriously' charmed to stalk Slytherins. (_Nothing_ is more disturbing than looking over one's shoulder and seeing a crystal ball lurking in the shadows.)

Actually… it wasn't really that much of a miracle that Sirius was free of detention while James was detained. The teachers had come up with a new plan of attack on their constant disruptiveness: Divide and conquer.

Peter almost had to feel sorry for the professors… dividing James and Sirius would only mean two separate evil plans instead of one… but he couldn't feel _that_ sorry for the professors; he was too busy pitying himself.

"Well, here we are," Sirius declared flamboyantly.

Peter frowned lightly, glancing from their apparent destination, to Sirius, and back again, "A broom closet?"

Sirius gave him a look that Peter was positive was meant to make him feel stupid.

"There's an air duct in there."

Peter returned the 'are you that thick?' look. "An air duct? In a castle?"

"Of course. They need to get air to the lower parts of the castle somehow or we'd suffocate," Sirius answered offhandedly, pointing his wand at the door's lock as he spoke.

After Sirius had unlocked the door and wandered into the closet, Peter followed after him, giving the dark space a doubtful glance. As far as he could see, there weren't any air ducts.

He was about to voice that observation when a sudden thought struck him. Even if there _were_ air ducts to provide oxygen to the dungeons and such, he and Sirius were heading for the Divination classroom, and it was several floors up… in a tower. Why on earth would an air duct lead there?

"Sirius, this is ridiculous."

"I've found the air duct!" Sirius ignored Peter and swept several dusty cloaks out of the way to reveal… a cardboard box.

Their endeavour had been rather pointless, and Peter said as much.

Sirius merely shrugged, picked up the box, and headed off for the Divination classroom, "I needed this box, but it was more fun to be looking for air ducts!"

ooo

James yawned. He didn't even bother to stifle it.

He had at last managed to discover and capture the crystal balls from Divination class, and now James sat on a pouf, eying the floating orbs suspiciously. The Divination professor had gone out to get something – someone – and had left him here with a stern glare and orders to not charm anything.

His detention time was over, however. …should he really wait for her return?

A sudden movement from the trapdoor drew James's attention. He straightened his glasses before sitting back and raising an eyebrow, offering a lazy grin to Sirius and Peter as they entered.

"Jamesie, love what you've done with the place," Sirius announced, poking one of the crystal globes as it floated at eye level.

"You know how it is," James responded with a wave of his hand. "An artist's inclinations cannot be stifled."

"You've been listening to Remus recite from that vocabulary book again," Sirius accused.

James shrugged with a lopsided grin. "Not like you don't do the same."

"Before we're caught," Peter interrupted, pointing at the empty box Sirius still held, "mind telling what that's for?"

Sirius brushed past the crystal balls, setting the box on one of the many low tables scattered across the room. "This is our decoy."

Peter frowned, "What're you planning on doing with that?"

"Just watch," Sirius instructed simply.

Peter had the undeniable feeling that whatever Sirius had planned would not be brilliant enough to keep them out of trouble.

James and Peter sat in silence as they watched Sirius wander around the room muttering to himself.

"Should we… do something?" Peter asked hesitantly.

"Best to let him be," James advised carelessly. Peter nodded.

"Finished!" Sirius declared at last.

The black-haired boy had stolen one of the many tablecloths and draped it over a crystal ball that caught his fancy. Sirius had completed his project by plopping the cardboard box jauntily over the whole lot and scribbling features that vaguely (if you had a good imagination) resembled those of James Potter.

"You're kidding," Peter decided.

"He's not," James sighed with a small shake of his head.

Sirius sniffed, his nose up in the air superiorly. "Just because we can't all be great artist who are incredibly smart doesn't mean you two can try to degrade my masterpiece."

Peter and James exchanged silent glances before marching past Sirius and down the ladder to the hallway below. If Sirius wanted to rant until the professor came back, then let him. _They_ were going to Gryffindor Tower.

ooo

As they descended from Divination, Sirius caught up to them, sulking only slightly. James, knowing that if the subject were changed Sirius would forget the entire conversation, rubbed his chin thoughtfully before speaking. "We still don't know what's up with Remus… we've gotten a few clues, but nothing else. This is frustrating."

Peter nodded in agreement. "Well... do we have any guesses yet?" he asked.

Peter and James both turned wary eyes on Sirius as he nodded vigorously. This did not bode well.

"Remmy is..." Sirius paused for dramatic effect; his eyes darted side to side, "a British _spy_."

This pronouncement was met with the usual silence and disbelieving stares, but Sirius was accustomed to such reaction and continued on without even a hint that he realized how crazy they thought he was. "Yes, our dear Remmy is secretly a British spy, sent to... gain our deepest secrets! And steal all of our wonderful ideas!"

James decided that being reasonable was the best way to deal with this newest delusion. He had heard about James Bond movies (he suspected this was where Sirius was getting his notion of Remus being a spy) from a muggle-born boy in their Charms class. Thomas Cork was the boy's name, and he had gone into great detail over the movies.

Sirius, of course, had soaked it up to use for future insanity.

"Sirius," James said plaintively. "Remus can't be a spy."

"And why not?" Sirius demanded dubiously.

James blinked as both Sirius and Peter focused their attention on him, waiting for an answer. "Well, for one... can you see Remus getting the girl at the end of his spying? I certainly can't."

For a brief moment, James thought Sirius would accept his point, but then his slightly incoherent friend held up one finger triumphantly.

"Exactly!" Sirius cried. "That's what he _wants_ us to think. It's quite a clever ruse don't you agree?" – "No, I don't agree, actually," James cut in, but Sirius ignored the interruption. – "No one would ever suspect him with the way he acts, but don't be a fool! It's all a facade to deceive us of his sinister deeds' nature!"

"Someone here is being a fool, but it certainly isn't me," James deadpanned before sighing and motioning for the two boys to follow him. "Let's get going… we still have to start on our Halloween project and we need to find Remus for that."

ooo

The three boys scoured Gryffindor Tower and then the rest of the school in search of Remus. It took the better part of the day to check his usual haunts around the grounds and in the library.

When they searched the library, Sirius entertained James and Peter by scaling one of the tall bookcases and having a long chat with the dust bunnies that resided there.

Their search was put to an end there, however, when Madam Pince spotted Sirius and informed him that he was within a few feet of the restricted section and would be severely punished if he didn't come down from his perch within the next minute,

They would have been perhaps allowed to stay and search a bit longer if Sirius, dangerously curious as always, had not clambered down from the bookcase on the restricted side.

Peter commented later that they were lucky to escape with their lives. He had never seen Madam Pince with more intent to seriously maim a student than at that moment. And _he_ had seen the perpetually late Ravenclaw, Stebbins, turn in a shredded library book once.

ooo

Sirius marched along the quiet hallways as he led James and Peter to the Hospital Wing. He hadn't forgotten Remus's mention of being sick on the weekend, but he had supposed it to be an excuse. Perhaps Remus had gone to the Hospital Wing just to not be caught in his lie?

Because it _was_ a lie, he knew; no one could predict when they would be sick. Not even someone with a bloody rotten immune system like Remus.

"Sirius, go ahead and knock," James's voice broke into Sirius's thoughts and he raised a fist to rap smartly on the door.

To Sirius's surprise and, for a split second, dismay, a Ravenclaw second year he had met a few weeks ago opened the door to the Hospital Wing. She opened her mouth to speak, closed it, and stared. He knew exactly what she was thinking: Coincidental, or purposeful meeting?

"Black," she said cautiously. "What do you want?"

Sirius brightened up, his old charming grin back in place as he recovered from the mild surprise. "Sarah! Sarah Duble, isn't it?"

Sarah narrowed green eyes. "If you're here to bother me again, you're not walking away – you're heading right into the Hospital Wing, Black."

Noting the dangerous tone in the Ravenclaw's voice, James and Peter chose to watch the chat from the sidelines, unnoticed.

"Still upset over the transfigured quill?" Sirius asked innocently.

"That was _you_?"

"Ouch," James murmured sympathetically as the dark-haired Ravenclaw slapped Sirius and stormed past him.

"Oi!" Peter called, in a rare show of courage, before she could disappear down the hallway. Sarah turned and he quailed for a moment before gathering the courage once again to ask his question. "I-i-is Remus Lupin in there?"

Sarah nodded curtly, angrily shoving her long hair back. "He's ill; Madam Pomfrey doesn't want him to be bothered. Black, if you come within ten feet of me in the next week I'll hex you till you're black and blue."

James arched an eyebrow at Sirius as the other boy absently rubbed his cheek. "That looked painful."

"Thank-you for stating the obvious," Sirius complained, "How am I supposed to stay away from her? We have Transfiguration with her! She bloody sits _five_ feet from my chair."

"I take it the girls don't usually slap you?" Peter queried curiously as he noted Sirius's angry mutterings.

"Bloody Ravenclaws…" Sirius pouted, rubbed his cheek again before starting down the hall. "Let's get to work on thinking up a suitable prank. We'll get Remmy later tonight and see if he's up to rigging whatever we need then."

ooo

"Well," James announced after a while, "I think that about covers everything. S'bout time to go collect Remus and have him poke holes in our plans, eh?"

"Maybe he'll point out why we shouldn't even try this?" Peter asked. Sirius merely rolled his eyes at Peter's familiar dialogue and hopeful wish of a plan being cancelled.

"Remus will most definitely tell us why we shouldn't do this," James assured.

"Doesn't mean we won't go through with it anyway," grinned Sirius.

Frank, who was just trudging up the stairs to the dormitory, gave the three boys a wary glance. He pondered for a moment if he really even had the energy to question the Marauders outright about what they were up to.

He didn't. It was late.

"You lot," Frank ordered as he made straight for his bed, "remind me to kill you in the morning if you do anything to embarrass Gryffindor."

"Of course," Sirius agreed cheerfully. Frank gave him a weary glance and shook his head. He'd deal with whatever they were up to later.

ooo

The Marauders made their way quietly through the dim corridors. Aside from a brief incident with the Bloody Baron coming dangerously close to floating through the three as they hid under James's invisibility cloak, no other souls, living or dead, were seen.

James nudged the door to the Hospital Wing open and the three slid in as quietly as possible, easing the door closed behind them.

As usual, the Hospital Wing was scrubbed clean with various health potions decorating the shelves that lined the walls. Madam Pomfrey was nowhere to be seen, but the boys could detect faint noise from her office – soft snores?

"She's asleep?" Sirius guessed.

"Let's make this quick, then, shall we?" James responded quietly.

Just to be safe, the three stayed under the cloak as they made their way into the section where the cots lined the walls. They scanned them individually, finding no occupants.

"He died!" Peter half-wailed with trembling lips.

"Don't be daft," Sirius snapped quickly. He glanced around uneasily, though. "Where do you think he could be, James? Sarah said he was fairly sick… Remus _has_ looked a bit paler than usual this week. He's sick again, so... why isn't he here?"

James shook his head.

The sound of Madame Pomfrey suddenly bustling around her office prevented further conversation and James motioned frantically for his two friends to hurry with him to the exit.

They made their way to Gryffindor Tower again, worry and confusion weighing on them heavily.


	5. Chapter 5: The Halloween Feast

**The Marauders' Years: Year Two**

**Chapter Five**

_**The Halloween Feast**_

_Warning_: The following story was being planned out in 2003 -- well before the fifth, sixth, or seventh Harry Potter books were available to me. While the story has absorbed facts from these books as they have been presented, some key elements of the story will still not match up with canon, as it's too late to change some events and relationships. Please keep that in mind.

_Characters_ _Contained_: The four Marauders are this series' main focus, but a core group of OCs also appear throughout the story. Therefore, it would be wise to read the first installment of _The Marauders' Years_ to better understand where everything is coming from.

_Disclaimer_: I neither own nor make a profit off of anything from the Harry Potter universe. J.K.Rowling is the one behind the series, y'know.

_Status_: Ongoing. I have no intention of dropping _The Marauders' Years_ from my current writing projects. How frequent updates will be, I can't say. They _will_ be more frequent than in the past. However, the chapters may not be up to parr in terms of polishing. As my wonderful beta looks over the chapters and adds in her thoughts and corrections, I will re-upload chapters. In theory, nothing major will be changed, so it should be safe for me to put up the un-beta-ed chapters to cut down on the waiting period. Happy reading, all, and many thanks to those who are still sticking with me on this.

* * *

Remus winced as Madam Pomfrey fussed over his newest cuts and bruises, making tsk' sounds over what had once been a deep gash in his right arm.

He regarded the jagged pink marking with a slightly nauseous feeling. That had _not_ been what he had wanted to awaken to.

So much blood…

Through the haze of pain-filled sleep he had experienced earlier that afternoon, Remus could vaguely recall Madam Pomfrey having a row with Dumbledore about finding some way –

_any_ way – to make the Shrieking Shack', as it was beginning to be called in Hogsmeade, more hospitable. She was arguing with something about not liking her patients bleeding to death without her knowledge…

Remus shivered at that thought. What would James, Sirius, and Peter think if he slipped off for the Hospital Wing on the day of the full moon and the next day Dumbledore was shipping his body back to his grieving mother?

"Here, does this hurt?" Madame Pomfrey questioned rather pointlessly as she prodded the cut and effectively broke his train of thought.

Remus barely stifled a yelp and bit his lip, nodding his head quickly.

"Hm." Madame Pomfrey shook her head sadly. "I suppose that one –

as well as those bruises – will take a bit longer to heal. They've already had a day… Would you like to stay another night?"

"No, ma'am." Remus shifted uncomfortably on the cot. "I've got Charms class tomorrow morning – there might be a test on what we cover… Professor Flitwick hinted at it."

Madame Pomfrey pursed her lips, but didn't argue. "Well that cut is healed enough that I won't have to wrap it up unless you want me to. I dare say that a hefty bandage would be more conspicuous than the cut itself."

Remus nodded dejectedly. It was best just to hide the cut.

"Right then," Madame Pomfrey announced suddenly, ushering Remus towards the door. "Since you don't want to stay here tonight you'd best hurry on, Mr. Lupin."

Remus paused, glancing up at the kind woman. "Thank-you… I'm sorry."

Madame Pomfrey smiled gently and shook her head. "No need to thank me, and there's not a thing you can do about such things as this. Now," her voice took on a mockingly severe edge. "I had better not see you earlier than next month. Take care of yourself."

Remus nodded and headed off unerringly for Gryffindor Tower. As the boy mounted the steps, he held tight to the thought that it was getting well past ten in the evening –

perhaps everyone had thought to go to sleep for once and he could sneak in unnoticed?

ooo

"–and I do believe that any plants brought into _my_ house saw my mum, _screamed_, and died," Sirius was saying disgustedly as Remus tried to slip quietly through the portrait hole. "So no, I did _not_ get my ability to keep foliage alive for more than a week from my mum. And if you suggest something like that again you can bloody well sod off, Evans."

Lily Evans looked to be nearly three seconds from exploding while James – sitting amiably on an armchair watching Sirius and Lily's 'talk' – seemed to be shifting between amusement and alarm.

"Remus!"

Remus flinched as Sirius's irritated attention landed on him.

"You'd better have a bloody good reason for disappearing. James, Peter, and I spent the better part of last night looking for you!"

Lily fastidiously smoothed the wrinkles in her skirt and picked up her books before giving Sirius and James one last look of loathing, and then shestalked offto join a group of fifth years studying together around one of the tables.

"Sirius is a little upset," James explained apologetically as Remus slowly made his way towards the two, all the while wondering how soon he'd be able to make a break for the stairs. "He had a run-in with Bellatrix; Professor McGonagall had to stop them from kill—" James broke off his animated monologue, expression crumpling to worry before he questioned bluntly, "What happened to your arm?"

Remus went over excuses quickly. He had opted not to wear a cloak to hide the jagged slash as anything that even brushed against the wound caused some amount of pain, and now he was paying for that choice.

He should have _known_ it would be noticed.

"I fell..." Remus started slowly, but quickly picked up speed as he fashioned his excuse into a cover story as well. "And that's why I went to the Hospital Wing. It… it was pretty bad."

From over at the table where she had gone to study, Lily glanced up, a frown creasing her forehead as she too took in Remus's arm. Remus blushed, wishing furiously to sink into the floor.

"Why didn't you let us know? And where were you yesterday night?" James asked.

Remus shifted uncomfortably underthe shrewd gazes of Sirius and James. "I was…" He cursed himself for his pause as he fumbled for a feasible lie. "I was helping Professor Flitwick –

we may have a test in Charms soon, you know – and I tripped and hit my arm on the corner of the desk. You must have checked the Hospital Wing at the wrong time. I was feeling ill before that, so Madam Pomfrey decided to keep me there 'til now."

"We came back and checked in the middle of the night," James persisted, now watching him – to Remus's slight horror – with the calculating expression he usually wore when attempting to pick apart a lie.

"It was fairly late."

"Right then," Sirius decided, getting up. "We need to get upstairs and pry Peter from the chocolates his mum sent him, and get started on…" He glanced distrustfully at Lily's back and dropped his voice to nothing more that a hiss, "you-know-what."

Sirius raised his voice back to normal levels again and stretched. "And before you even start, James. I'm not uttering a word of what Bellatrix said or anything of the sort. Keep your nose in your own business, thanks." James frowned, but made no comments.

Remus allowed himself a small sigh as the attention of his friends shifted.

ooo

The boys entered the dorm room to witnessFrank quoting an article from _The Daily Prophet_. It seemed Voldemort's followers were getting braver. Attacking a man who worked for the Ministry…

"There'll be war over that," Frank announced fiercely.

Peter – sitting on his bed and busily stuffing chocolates into his mouth – said nothing, but gazed fearfully at the now-common pictures of chaos and The Dark Mark that marred the pages of _The Prophet_.

Remus crossed to his bed, sitting down and crossing his left arm over his right to prevent further notice and questionings of his injury. James and Sirius crowded around Frank and his copy of _The Prophet_, reading the article in question with narrowed eyes.

There were tales so horrific that _The Prophet_ had no need for exaggerations and the general glamour the paper normally partook in. It was news that everyone would read word for word. It was a journalist's dream story.

"I'm joining the Aurors once I'm out of Hogwarts," James said in the sort of fiercely quiet tone they had all come to recognize as meaning James was deadly serious. "They're doing this sort of thing now… killings just to make a statement for _The Prophet_ to run – imagine what they'll be up to _six years_ from now. I want to stop them."

Frank nodded in agreement.

Sirius nodded as well, smouldering slightly in anger. "Just last year they were saying not to trust strangers…"

Remus and James both noted the faraway tone of Sirius's voice, but the latter was the one to question the black-haired boy. "Sirius?"

Sirius blinked, shaking his head to clear it. "I was just thinking… It's those you _trust_ that you have to worry about next. It's always the obvious ones first – strangers and the like – and then those closer, like friends, old acquaintances… family."

"Bloody war is coming," Frank muttered, shaking his head. "The Ministry is starting to take these blokes seriously. But enough of this, I'm off to get in a game of Gobstones and get my mind off of this before bed – any takers?"

"Think I'll stay up here," Remus answered from his position.

"We've got some things to talk about," James agreed.

Peter pointed wordlessly to his chocolates.

Frank shrugged. "I'll ask Sunter for a game in that case. I believe she was near collapse; I'd hate to go from Prefect, to Head, and then deal with NEWTS." Frank shook his head slowly before exiting the room and leaving the Marauders to their own devices.

"Now, let's get down to business." Sirius, as always, brushed away the worries of the world as only he could, and his signature evil grin slipped into its customary place.

Remus, despite hoping a moment ago for distractions of this sort, couldn't repress a disconcerted reply of, "Oh no, what have you thought of this time?"

"Well, James gave me the originalidea," Sirius answered in a would-be humble voice if not for the proud smirk.

"Give me one of those chocolates, Peter – thanks. Anyway…" James popped the chocolate into his mouth and stared thoughtfully up at the ceiling. "We're going to pull it off in the Great Hall during the Halloween Feast."

"Dumbledore will be there," Remus reminded; he already felt that this idea wouldn't be to his liking.

"Told you he'd poke holes in the plan."

"Right you did, Jamesie," Sirius agreed. "We're going to charm the ceiling to look like it's storming out. And halfway through dinner… it'll storm _inside_. Simple yet brilliant, eh?"

"Disturbingly brilliant. You do know the spells to do all of this are likely to be complicated, I hope. We'd also have to manipulate the charms already on the ceiling _and_ coordinate the raining to be in sync with all of that?" Remus paused, indecisive on whether to give his approval or not.

It _was_ an ingenious sort of plan and, aside from getting wet, no one would be hurt –something you couldn't always guarantee with the pranks James and Sirius came up with. "It… does sound like a good idea, though."

"Remus likes it. It's a go!" James cheered as Sirius punched his fist into the air triumphantly.

"I like it as long as I don't have to climb up to the ceiling," Peter piped in.

"Let's get started. We have precisely one week… To the library!" Sirius hopped up from where he and James had been sitting on Frank's bed and led the way to the stairs.

"Isn't it a bit late for that?" Peter queried hopefully.

"Nonsense." Sirius whipped out their map from a pocket of his robe and glanced at it briefly. "We'll need the cloak for once we get out, Jamesie, but I think we can use that passage I fell into last month."

James nodded, retrieving the article of clothing from under his bed.

ooo

The common room was full of people despite the late hour. The fire crackled cheerfully and threw a warm light over the room's occupants. The light danced merrily on the chess pieces that Frank and Julian were ordering around the board.

As the Marauders came down the stairs, the Head Girl smirked victoriously and ordered her knight to take Frank's rook.

Frank made a face, offering a grudging, "You're bloody good at this."

"She's better than that," Philip Sunter warned with a teasing grin. "Julian hasn't been beaten since she was thirteen. Can you imagine growing up with Miss Perfect breathing down your neck?"

"Miss Perfect can hear you, and she still happens to be Head Girl, so Mister Moronic better continue playing with his little friends," Julian replied sweetly, much to the amusement of Mary Hatson.

Mark Quoft snorted, holding back outright laughter – barely. "Watch it, Philip, I think your sister might be a larger danger to your health than the Slytherins are going to be after you announce that Gryffindor's won for the third time in a row at the next game."

"You just remember to keep them from scoring goals; I'll deal with my sister," Philip grumped.

"I can still hear you," Julian reminded while ordering her bishop to begin stalking Frank's queen.

The fair-haired Gryffindor Keeper grinned at Philip, blue eyes dancing in amusement, but chose to cease tormenting the younger boy for the moment.

In the quiet that filled the room as the Marauders slipped by, the black-haired Gryffindor Seeker let out a moan of discontent and beseeched the room at large for advice in a loud voice. "Does _anybody_ understand a word that Professor Egg says? Muggle Studies is hard enough _without_ the way he teaches the class, sounding like he swallowed an old-English dictionary."

As the Marauders slipped through the portrait hole, they heard another member of the Gryffindor team, Mary Hatson, pipe up in reply. "I agree; Professor Mordicus Egg is cracked. You know he wants Professor Dumbledore to make that book of his – _Philosophy of the Mundane_, isn't it? – he wants it to be required reading."

Peter eased the portrait shut behind them, cutting off the rest of the conversation.

"Sitting in on that would have been fun," Sirius mused.

"To the library, then?" Remus asked.

James nodded and whipped out his invisibility cloak. With a little more trouble than last year, they all huddled underneath it and started off.

ooo

It was the night of the Halloween Feast and all was going exceedingly well.

Sirius, with a barely suppressed cackle of pure excitement, noted that not one person seemed to suspect the prank that was waiting in the wings. Not even the teachers suspected anything**…**though, with Dumbledore it was often hard to tell.

He fidgeted, though, licking dry lips. This was possibly the biggest prank Sirius had ever devised in all his years of practical joking. It, he decided with a thrill, would be even better than the end-of-year prank with the balloons.

And that brought up another interesting problem: they had pulled a prank involving the Great Hall's ceiling once already – the chances of being caught before things could be set in motion were increased greatly.

"Jamesie..." Sirius poked his friend in the arm, drawing the boy's attention from Dumbledore as the aged wizard gave the beginning-of-feast speech, congratulating Professor Mums for the live vampire bats she had provided for decoration.

"What?"

"It's time," Sirius muttered quickly, making a quick motion to draw the attention ofRemus and Peter. "If I wait another moment I'm going to go mad. Remus, how's that arm of yours? Ready for some tricky casting?"

Remus blinked, subconsciously adjusting his robe to hide the faint scar as he nodded. "If you're sure you want to do this…"

"Are we ever _not_ sure?" James smirked, waving off the remark Remus was sure to make. "Let's set things in motion."

Subtlety was the Marauders' friend as they pulled their wands free and started up the charms already set in place.

Thunder crashed ominously from the enchanted ceiling and the boys winced in expectation of the cold rain, but…

Sirius squinted upward at the ceiling. "Nothing's… happening….?"

"Sirius…"

The black-haired boy tilted his head to the side, one eyebrow shooting up. "What's—?"

Peter, bottom lip trembling, pointed wordlessly at the professors' table.

"Ah," James said.

"I knew it," Remus sighed.

Together, they chorused, "We're dead."


	6. Chapter 6: The Haunted Clock

**The Marauders' Years: Year Two**

**Chapter Six**

_**The Haunted Clock**_

_Warning_: The following story was being planned out in 2003 -- well before the fifth, sixth, or seventh Harry Potter books were available to me. While the story has absorbed facts from these books as they have been presented, some key elements of the story will still not match up with canon, as it's too late to change some events and relationships. Please keep that in mind.

_Characters_ _Contained_: The four Marauders are this series' main focus, but a core group of OCs also appear throughout the story. Therefore, it would be wise to read the first installment of _The Marauders' Years_ to better understand where everything is coming from.

_Disclaimer_: I neither own nor make a profit off of anything from the Harry Potter universe. J.K.Rowling is the one behind the series, y'know.

_Status_: Ongoing. I have no intention of dropping _The Marauders' Years_ from my current writing projects. How frequent updates will be, I can't say. They _will_ be more frequent than in the past. However, the chapters may not be up to parr in terms of polishing. As my wonderful beta looks over the chapters and adds in her thoughts and corrections, I will re-upload chapters. In theory, nothing major will be changed, so it should be safe for me to put up the un-beta-ed chapters to cut down on the waiting period. Happy reading, all, and many thanks to those who are still sticking with me on this.

* * *

The days following the fiasco in the Great Hall were spent by the unfortunate Marauders in utter agony. After the initial terror of Professor Hikage smiling his thin lipped smile and saying, "Well, well, well. Problem, boys?" the four boys had found themselves suffering something far worse than a moment's embarrassment and a week's detention.

What they faced – what hit them the hardest – was…

Ridicule.

Never before had Sirius walked down a hallway with no intention of drawing attention to himself, and suddenly found first years fighting back laughter at the mere sight of him. James had never received less than hero-worship, but everyone he passed seemed to be sniggering the moment his back was to them. Remus and Peter didn't have nearly as much trouble – they realized quickly to simply keep their heads down and wait for it to blow over in a few days.

James and Sirius were distraught when the situation wasn't much improved by the end of the week. While Remus and Peter seemed to have the innate ability to become one with the wall and therefore continue to stay inconspicuous through their classes, James and Sirius didn't know _how_ to go through a class without causing some disruption. Sitting silently in class after class for fear of losing more House Points was torture.

Another issue that surfaced shortly after Halloween was a sudden disappearance of quills and toothbrushes from the Marauders' room. At first they suspected Lily and her friends, but the girls seemed to be doing nothing more suspicious that lavishing even more affection than usual on Allysia's spoiled cat.

Regardless of their problems, winter moved in over the castle, and with it came the first snowfall of November. The attention of their fellow students and their teachers' watchful gazes dwindled away as everyone began to focus in earnest on making it to and from classes without freezing in the sometimes drafty halls of Hogwarts.

Along with the snowfall came new obstacles in getting to Care of Magical Creatures on time. The class was across the grounds, through the snow that had drifted softly down throughout the week, seeming to be disarmingly harmless until the gentle snow had created foot-high freezing drifts.

It was through this snow that the Marauders struggled now. All four had their red and gold striped Gryffindor scarves wrapped tightly around their necks and pulled up slightly to protect their faces from the biting wind, so no one spoke until they had stopped, shivering, close to where the second year Ravenclaws were milling about, waiting for class to start.

"They should have _cancelled_ this ruddy class," Sirius complained, sneezing before drawing his cloak more tightly around himself.

"I can't feel my fingers," Peter said in agreement.

Remus simply pulled a pained face and tried to hold his scarf up over his nose, which was slowly going numb from the cold.

"It's not so bad," James tried, attempting to sound cheerful. Secretly, he agreed with his friends – it was almost too cold for class. Care of Magical Creatures was still an easy class, though, as they weren't allowed to see any of the more dangerous creatures in the wizarding world until their third year.

The class was also preferable to the dungeons during Potions class, which seemed to drop to temperatures far colder than those outside.

Besides, James thought with a sigh, it wasn't as if they would cancel classes when students were going out of their way to go outside in the snow during breaks. A few students had even restarted the game of trying to touch the trunk of the Whomping Willow that had apparently been planted only at the start of term the previous year. They seemed to think the slippery snow made the game even more challenging and, as a result, Madam Pomfrey could be heard from even several halls away, giving said students a thorough verbal lashing for the cuts and bruises they were acquiring.

"Reckon they'll notice if we conjure up a little fire?" Sirius wondered, pulling James from his thoughts.

James was saved from answering (and therefore from Sirius's whining) when Professor Kettleburn made his way through the snow to greet the class.

Professor Kettleburn was a thin, wiry wizard with a face heavily wrinkled with worry lines. The most remarkable thing about the man was that he had a finger or two missing from both hands, and a large chunk missing from his right ear lobe from a Doxy bite. The man's appearance always had a sobering effect on the students, no matter what year they were in.

As he stopped before the class, he adjusted his large, grey scarf around his neck and silently counted heads to make sure everyone had arrived.

Out of the corner of his eye, James saw Sirius struggle to maintain a straight face, and Remus suppress a smile – it had only been the previous night that Sirius had confided to them that Professor Kettleburn's scarf had an uncanny resemblance to a lumpy stretch of elephant skin.

"Today's class will be searching for Bundimuns," Professor Kettleburn began in his usual gravelly tones. We're to be collecting them for our Potions master, so take care. If you don't want to take a trip to the hospital wing with a melted hand, please put on your dragon's hide gloves before we begin our search…"

James tuned the professor out as he began describing the creatures they would be searching the grounds for (a green fungus with eyes, was the mental picture James had gotten).

"How about that fire?" Sirius pressed in a whisper as the class straggled after Kettleburn, searching for the sentient fungi.

Remus lifted an eyebrow delicately, his expression mostly hidden by his scarf. "There'll be trouble if we're caught."

"Trouble?" Sirius repeated, incredulous. "For insuring that our fingers don't fall off? D'you want us to start looking like Kettleburn?"

"…fine."

James had to smirk slightly as Remus glanced quickly around to make certain that no one was watching before summoning up a small bluebell flame with his wand. The pale boy had obviously given in simply to keep Sirius quiet, as the other boy's voice had been growing steadily louder over the course of his argument.

The remainder of the lesson passed without event (aside from Peter blanching at the sight of their first fungus and claiming that a fungus that could _look_ at him made him feel extremely ill), and it wasn't until the boys were making their way back through the halls of Gryffindor Tower that anything of import happened.

"—and then, right when his fingers were _almost_ brushing the trunk—" Sirius paused in his animated recount of what he had seen earlier that afternoon, glancing around to strengthen the effect. "—_wham_—right in the chest. 'Course it was a smaller branch, so it only stunned him for a moment, but Stebbins must've flown a good ten feet."

James laughed, shaking his head. "Some people will do anything. Have to wonder why it's on the grounds, though. Someone's going to get a nasty hit, don't you think, Remus?"

Remus forced a smile, laughing weakly. "Likely..."

"I'm surprised _you_ haven't tried it yet," Peter cut in, blinking up at Sirius.

Sirius smirked, waving one hand vaguely in the direction of the Whomping Willow. "I want to give everyone a chance to think it's _impossible._ That's when I'll have a go and show them how it's done. I wouldn't want to discourage everyone else with my talent too soon, though."

"How very thoughtful," James agreed, smirking.

"_I_ thought so."

The boys' conversation came to abrupt halt as _something_ within the empty classroom they had just passed gave an angry rumble. As they paused, listening intently, the sound came again, slightly louder.

"Peeves?" Peter wondered fearfully. He still wasn't quite over the malevolent poltergeist upending several bottles of ink over his head on the way to breakfast several days earlier.

"Surprised he hasn't come out to chuck stuff at us. Wish we could get _him_ in trouble for once." Sirius shrugged and began to walk away, but then paused in mid-step, swung around, and walked past Remus, straight into the classroom.

James hurried after Sirius, hearing Remus and Peter following hesitantly behind. Once inside the classroom, he glanced to where Sirius was poking about, attempting to discover if Peeves had done anything bad enough to call a teacher on him. After noting Sirius's puzzled expression, James turned his attention to the classroom.

From what he could see, the classroom hadn't held any lessons in it lately. In fact, the musty smell of the room seemed to indicate that it had been in a state of disuse for a few years. It looked to have been a Muggle Studies classroom at some point, though, James noted. A dusty chalkboard took up one wall, and various Muggle items were scattered around the room.

"Light bulbs," Remus mused, picking one up from a desk and shaking it; the rattle told him that it was broken.

They wandered around the classroom for several moments, only pausing when Peter asked why the Muggles had a mirror in the shape of a thick box with a strange cord coming out of it (Remus had to spend several minutes explaining that it was a toaster used for cooking, but that he didn't have any idea how it actually worked).

"There's nothing here," James announced, puzzled.

As if actively working to prove him wrong, a large grandfather clock in the far corner of the room gave a violent shake, rattling the bookshelf next to it and knocking several large, leather bound books to the floor.

The Marauders exchanged startled glances before James pulled his wand from his pocket and crept toward the clock. Upon reaching it, he cautiously held his wand up to the mesh that covered the clock's dark insides and muttered, "_Lumos_."

The reaction was immediate – whatever was in the clock twisted away from the light, causing the clock to give its most violent shudder to date, toppling the bookcase over entirely.

James yelped, back-pedalling quickly as a hail of books crashed around him and the bookcase hit the floor with a _crash_.

"Someone'll have heard that," Peter said anxiously, staring at the grandfather clock in undisguised fear.

"Right," agreed James, catching his balance. "We'll come back tonight…"

ooo

They didn't, in fact, make it back that night. Once enough time had passed for it to be safe to investigate the strange grandfather clock again, Remus suddenly remembered that the History of Magic essay they had carelessly put off for over a month would be due that next afternoon. After quickly scratching out a foot-long essay on the Dark wizard Grindewald, none of the boys had the energy to traverse the darkened halls.

"Sleep is more important than a mad clock," Sirius had decided, and that was that.

Throughout the day's classes, the Marauders discussed what could be in the Muggle clock, wondering if perhaps it had had a charm placed on it while it was used in the Muggle studies class. Remus discounted this theory by reminding them that, thanks to laws against charming Muggle objects, no teacher would leave such an item in an empty classroom.

It wasn't until they were nodding off in History of Magic that Peter had one of his rare strokes of brilliance.

"It could be a Boggart, couldn't it? We had one get in the cupboard over the summer."

"It's possible…" Remus nodded, looking slightly displeased at the idea.

At the end of Professor Binn's mind-numbing class, the Marauders made plans to investigate the matter of the grandfather clock no later than that night.


	7. Chapter 7: The Worst of Fears

**The Marauders' Years: Year Two**

**Chapter Seven**

_**The Worst of Fears**_

_Warning_: The following story was being planned out in 2003 -- well before the fifth, sixth, or seventh Harry Potter books were available to me. While the story has absorbed facts from these books as they have been presented, some key elements of the story will still not match up with canon, as it's too late to change some events and relationships. Please keep that in mind.

_Characters_ _Contained_: The four Marauders are this series' main focus, but a core group of OCs also appear throughout the story. Therefore, it would be wise to read the first installment of _The Marauders' Years_ to better understand where everything is coming from.

_Disclaimer_: I neither own nor make a profit off of anything from the Harry Potter universe. J.K.Rowling is the one behind the series, y'know.

_Status_: Ongoing.

_Other: _This marks the end of the chapters I have had waiting for upload. The next chapter will be half older writing, half completely new material. The chapter after that will be written completely from scratch. I'll try to update at least once a week -- once every two weeks at most. This story will be competing with _First Encounters, _so frequency may also depend on which story has more readers. Happy reading, all!

* * *

Darkness had fallen over the castle by the time the Marauders made their way to the silent hallways outside of the common room. 

James frowned, reaching into his bag to touch the invisibility cloak and insure that it was there, ready to be flung over the four of them if a teacher should be heard. He really hadn't planned on getting such a late start, but Remus had suddenly decided that he didn't want anything to do with their newest little adventure, and that had held them up.

Remus's stubbornness hadn't bothered Sirius, of course. James had been somewhat amused to watch Sirius pin Remus's arms and march him from the common room. Now that they were out, Sirius was still standing close to Remus, as if he were making sure the pale boy didn't get any ideas about running back to the common room.

The four walked in silence for several minutes, James only speaking once to warn Peter away from stepping into mid-air when one of the changing staircases suddenly swung away to connect somewhere else. From there on, the boys risked one _Lumos_-lit wand.

"This the room?" Sirius asked, lifting an eyebrow at the others.

James waited to see if Remus or Peter would answer, but their faces didn't register any recognition of the room in the shifting light of the spell. "Let's just try it," he decided at last, nodding toward the room. "No harm."

"Unless Peeves is in there," Peter muttered darkly, but the other three ignored him in favour of trooping into the room.

Remus lifted his wand high over his head, allowing the light to dimly illuminate the room. Shadows still clung inside the corners of the classroom, but they could all make out the clock now. It would have looked completely nondescript if not for the scattered spellbooks that still surrounded it.

"Now what?" whispered Peter.

"We... see if it's friendly," Sirius replied.

James managed a lop-sided smirk – they were being quieter in the classroom than they had been while wondering the halls where a teacher was more likely to hear them.

Remus snorted. "I'm sure it will be _honoured_ to make our acquaintance."

In reply, Sirius ignored the pale boy and crept toward the clock, his shadow growing and shrinking eerily in the light of Remus's wand.

"We come in peace!" he declared the moment he was a few feet from the grandfather clock.

The clock gave no immediate answer, but after a few moments of silence it trembled slightly.

Sirius frowned. He wasn't going to have a clock dismiss him like that. He had spoken to it, and he wasn't going to take one step outside of the classroom until he had received an answer. And he really didn't care if the whatever-it-was didn't _want_ to answer, because he planned to _make_ it answer.

Before any of the others could object, Sirius jammed his wand through a space in the frame and into the innards of the clock, grinning wickedly as he said, "_Lumos_."

As before, the clock – or, more specifically, what was _inside_ the clock – reacted immediately to the light. With one last violent shake of the grandfather clock, a dark _something_ erupted into the room and hovered uncertainly for a moment before completing its transformation with a _crack!_

Sirius's eyes widened as a chilly fog began to fill the room. Within moments a thick, white mist obscured everything – he could barely see his hand when he lifted it up to eye-level.

What _was_ this?

A choked yell sounded off to Sirius's right and he turned, wand out, only to find nothing facing him except the crushing fog.

Worried now, he turned again, but the fog continued to press on his eyes, blinding him to anything that might be going on around him. He could hear things in the fog, though – slight movements, loud thumps. Any one of the many sounds he continued to hear could have been some unknown creature in the fog finishing off his best friends.

"James!" he tried, spinning around once again at a loud _thump_ followed by a grunt.

No answer.

Sirius slowly spun on the spot, staring blindly into the fog around him. Where was everyone? Why weren't they saying anything?

Setting his mouth in a grim line, Sirius tightened his grip on his wand, ignoring how it was now slightly slick with perspiration. "_Lumos_!"

Sirius was uncertain what had happened – either the wand had refused to cast the spell, or the fog had simply swallowed the small light whole. Whichever it was, the lack of light was making the situation unbearable. He _had_ to find James and the others.

The silence stretched on for what seemed like an eternity. No matter which way Sirius tried to move, there was no end to the fog. It almost seemed as if he had been transported to some other place and that the secure wall of Hogwarts no longer surrounded him. That was what worried him the most. If they were in Hogwarts, nothing bad could happen. But if whatever had been in the clock had moved them…

"_James!_"

"Shh!" a voice hissed in his ear, and then someone (or some_thing_, Sirius thought, feeling slightly desperate now) grabbed his wand hand and forcibly lifted it to point his wand at the fog again. "_Riddikulus!_"

Sirius blinked and suddenly James was beside him, squinting intently through his glasses as a knife appeared in midair and cut through the fog, revealing Remus and Peter blinking dazedly on the far side of the room.

"Thanks—" Sirius started, but James's attention was already shifting to a spot nearest Peter where a loud _crack_ had just emanated.

Peter let out a frightened yelp, back-pedalling quickly as a beast stepped forth in place of the fog.

At first, James thought it was a lion, but then he received his first clear view of the creature and knew why Peter had flattened himself against the wall, trying to stay as far away from the creature as possible.

It was a manticore – its face was vaguely humanoid, but its mouth was filled with three rows of wickedly sharp teeth. Instead of a lion's tail, it had one of a scorpion that was covered in protective scale plates.

"Bloody _hell_," Sirius breathed.

Like James had done for Sirius, Remus was rushing to Peter's aid, attempting to edge along the wall toward the smaller boy while keeping both eyes fixed on the manticore's face.

Just as he reached Peter, leaning sideways to remind him of what spell to use, the manticore smiled. Even from across the room, Sirius was confident that the expression was the single most terrifying thing he had seen in all his years.

Faster than the boys' eyes could follow, the manticore twisted its body and lashed out with its tail, hitting the space of wall between Remus and Peter and sending both boys sprawling.

"Peter!" Remus called, scrambling to his feet and trying to still his rapid breathing long enough to get a clear sentence out. "_Riddikulus –_ use it!"

Peter, however, seemed unable to even let out a whimper from where he was on the floor. He simply stared, his attention fixated on the wicked smile the manticore was once again wearing.

As Remus watched, horror-struck, the creature took a few deceptively dainty steps toward Peter, almost _casually_ lifting its tail again…

"_Remus!_"

Sirius's yell was enough to snap Remus back to reality. Hoping against hope that the boggart wouldn't turn on him next, Remus lifted his wand, put out his _lumos_ spell and managed to get out the _riddikulus_ spell.

The room fell back into the pitch-black of night inside the castle with no _lumos_-lit wands to keep the darkness at bay.

Remus waited in the dark, praying that the boggart had gone. One moment passed by as he waited, then two. It almost looked as if everything had settled down when a slow, soft light began to penetrate the darkness from somewhere near the ceiling.

For a moment, he froze. Would false moonlight be as terrible as the real thing? Remus wasn't certain, and because of that he bolted, clearing the doorway before the false moon appeared from behind the artificial clouds.

Remus was halfway up the stairs and well on his way to Gryffindor Tower when the other three boys stopped blinking in confusion at the moon and gathered their wits enough to follow.


End file.
